Abstract The megatoothed shark genus Otodus has only been recorded previously from one locality in western Washington State, USA: Otodus auriculatus in the lower Eocene (Ypresian) part of the Crescent Formation in the Hamma Hamma River area, eastern Olympic Peninsula. Previously unpublished fossils from Washington expand the Otodus record from early Eocene to early or early middle Miocene. New specimens of O . auriculatus are from the middle Eocene (Lutetian) part of the Crescent Formation in the Canyon River area, southern Olympic Peninsula, and a fragmentary tooth from the middle Eocene (Bartonian) Aldwell Formation. Uppermost Eocene or lower Oligocene strata of the lower Lincoln Creek Formation south of the Olympic Mountains yielded a tooth fragment and a large vertebra of Otodus sp., and a large partial tooth referred to O . angustidens is from the uppermost Oligocene part of the Pysht Formation, northern Olympic Peninsula. Otodus cf. chubutensis is reported from the lower to middle Miocene Astoria Formation in southwestern Washington and coastal Oregon. Although rare, the fossils demonstrate that Otodus inhabited the northeastern Pacific Ocean from at least the early Eocene and even well past the period of cooling after the Eocene/Oligocene transition. Together, these fossils comprise the northernmost fossil record of the genus Otodus for the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Abstract The so-called “Solnhofen limestones” of southern Germany are widely recognized for their abundance of Late Jurassic fossil vertebrates, with pterosaurs being no exception. Within the recognized plenitude of the pterosaurs within this assemblage, although ctenochasmatid remains are relatively abundant, gnathosaurines are scarce, with only one known Solnhofen representative of the group known thus far. The Late Kimmeridgian locality of Brunn (near Regensburg, Germany) represents the oldest locality of the Solnhofen complex (“Solnhofen Archipelago” in recent literature), with only one pterosaur having been described from this locality to date. Here, a second pterosaur taxon from within this locality and a new gnathosaur is introduced, Spathagnathus roeperi gen. et sp. nov., whose novel tooth and dental enamel features add to the known dental diversity for the group. The new taxon represents the oldest occurrence of a gnathosaurine and contributes to the paleoenvironmental stratigraphic range for the Gnathosaurinae within the overall fossil assemblage of the Solnhofen Archipelago. Furthermore, the new taxon adds to the known diversity of ctenochasmatids in the Late Jurassic and underlines the importance of this early radiation of pterodactyloid pterosaurs during this time.

Teleosauroid crocodylomorphs were a successful, diverse and abundant clade that expanded near-globally during the Jurassic Period. Teleosauroids are commonly found in Toarcian strata (Early Jurassic) within Europe, with multiple unique specimens pertaining to four taxa having been discovered in the Posidonienschiefer Formation (= Posidonia Shale) in southwestern Germany. The majority of these specimens have been referred to Macrospondylus bollensis (Jaeger, 1828), a basal machimosaurid species previously assigned to the genus Steneosaurus. Macrospondylus bollensis, as a species, is known to have a long and impressive history; unfortunately, the holotype of Ma. bollensis is poorly understood, rarely referenced in the current literature and is often incorrectly thought to be a teleosauroid specimen from Whitby. The actual holotype (housed at the Museum für Mineralogie und Geologie in Dresden), while badly burned, offers valuable information on basal teleosauroid postcranial material. We provide a detailed re-description of Macrospondylus bollensis, recognize it as a valid taxon and compare it with other Toarcian and machimosaurid teleosauroids. In addition, we evaluate the ecology and biogeographical distribution of Macrospondylus.

Abstract A partial caudal fin of a large-bodied asthenocormine pachycormiform (Pachycormiformes: Pachycormidae: Asthenocorminae) is described from the Upper Jurassic (lower Tithonian) Kimmeridge Clay Formation of Dorset, England. The specimen comprises associated fin rays, basal fulcra, ‘epurals’ and paired pre-caudal scutes, the combination and morphology of which is consistent with the large (2–3 m TL) edentulous, supposedly ‘suspension-feeding’ asthenocormine, Asthenocormus titanius (Wagner), presently known only from the Upper Jurassic plattenkalks of Bavaria, Germany. Asthenocormus has previously been documented in the literature as being present in the Middle and Upper Jurassic of England, however all of these specimens have been misattributed or since referred to different genera. However, the specimen from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation is here referred with confidence to Asthenocormus. Morphological variation in the pre-caudal dorsal scute of the new specimen compared to the Bavarian material suggest that the Kimmeridge Clay specimen likely represents a new species of Asthenocormus, although it is currently too poorly represented to diagnose, and hence we refer the specimen to Asthenocormus cf. titanius. The new specimen represents the first true record of Asthenocormus from the UK, thereby extending its known palaeobiogeographic distribution and further demonstrating faunal similarities between fish assemblage from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation of Dorset and the Solnhofen-type plattenkalks of southern Germany. Additional comments are also made on the hidden diversity of pachycormid fishes in the Kimmeridge Clay Formation.

Abstract Larvae of lacewings (Neuroptera) are known to be fierce predators today. Most characteristic are their prominent piercing-sucking stylets, which are used for venom injection and sucking out the fluids of the prey. Among lacewing larvae, aphidlions (larvae of the groups Chrysopidae and Hemerobiidae, green and brown lacewings) are today highly specialised to feed on aphids and evolved strategies to not be detected and attacked by, e.g., aphid-protecting ants. Fossil relatives of modern aphidlions seem to have also employed other strategies. For the species Pedanoptera arachnophila from about 100-million-year-old Kachin amber, Myanmar, an interaction of its larvae with spiders has been assumed. We present here new specimens resembling these larvae, including one piece of Cretaceous Kachin amber with a syn-inclusion of an aphidlion-like larva and an immature planthopper, indicating planthoppers as potential prey of the group about 100 million years ago. The morphology of the lacewing larva, with a trapezoid head capsule (in dorsal view), simple, toothless stylets, very elongate legs, and a spindle-shaped trunk, indicates that it is conspecific or at least closely related to P. arachnophila. We reconstruct the possible ontogenetic sequence of Pedanoptera arachnophila and discuss its ecology.